


To Wash Away a Sin

by infinity500



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Asexuality Spectrum, Bisexual Percy Jackson, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Female Percy Jackson, Genderbending, Hogwarts Inter-House Relationships, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hufflepuff Pride, Hufflepuff/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Legilimency, Legilimens, Mentioned Annabeth, Mild Language, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, One-Sided Fred Weasley/Percy Jackson, One-Sided Relationship, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Slytherins Being Slytherins, The Golden Trio, figuring things out after/during the war, hogwarts house culture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-03-20 13:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13718412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinity500/pseuds/infinity500
Summary: Draco and Perci go to the Black Lake in the middle of the night for different reasons but find each other instead.





	1. Persephone Jackson

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. If I did, Percy would be bisexual.
> 
> This was actually the first work I've ever posted so in honor of that I'm going to repost it without any changes (outside of grammatical edits). Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> also: language

Persephone Jackson was not having a good day. First, she had to go on a stupid mission to a stupid school with a stupid name halfway across the world for some stupid reason. Granted that the mission was to protect an innocent boy from a psychopathic, murdering bastard who wanted said boy dead and that said mission was to a wizarding school and thus required her to learn some awesome magic skills, but that was beside the point. The point being that the school and the mission was in England and that she was to do this alone.

Thus bringing her to the second reason for her shitty day being that because of said mission, she got into a fight with one of her closest friends (and once girlfriend), Annabeth Chase. While they broke up on a mutual agreement that they were better as just friends, they were still extremely dependent on each other in the aftermath of the Giant War, more specifically The Pit. The simple idea of it still gave her goosebumps and neither of them could even think of the word without unwanted memories being dug up. So imagine Annabeth's shock and rage to hear that she had accepted a mission so soon after the war without even asking her. The resulting argument had been explosive and ended up with her stowing away on a cruise liner to London in the middle of the night (not one of her smartest plans) just to get away from it all.

  
She had originally accepted the mission from Trivia to solely help the kid get through the school year alive, remembering how hard it was to get through school while fighting for your life day in and day out (she would have loved to have someone do this for her back then). But after her fight with Annabeth, it became clear to her that she needed a fresh perspective on life and that this was her chance for it. A new life and a clean slate. No more pitying looks from her friends and people who would treat her like cracked glass. She had saved the world twice and gods-be-damned if she was going to sit around waiting for someone to fix her. But as good as she was at fixing other people's problems she was delusional when it came to solving her own. The distance moving away to London put between her and the Greeks did nothing to console her. Instead, she had never felt more lonely in her entire life. The reason for that was because it seemed that no matter how much distance she put between her and her past, it would never be enough to stop the memories and sorrow and guilt she felt every night when the nightmares came to tear at the fraying seams of her sanity. Of course, this had happened several weeks ago and she had resolved her conflicts with Annabeth long ago. But it did nothing to console her raging mind that was plagued with questions that were raised in that argument. Questions that, to her utter frustration, she had yet to solve.

  
All of this culminated in a fight with the allegedly biggest git in the school Draco Malfoy (and yeah, alleged because she was never one to judge from rumors and first appearances, being subjected to it far too often to subject another to the same treatment). She hadn't exactly been planning for a confrontation with him or anyone. Really she had been hoping to keep her head down out of as much trouble as possible, but to be frank, since when was her luck ever that good. Here's a hint, never.

  
So as luck, or fate (those female dogs), would have it while walking down the vast halls of Hogwarts to her next class, she was body slammed by Harry Potter, the boy who lived, aka the kid she here to keep alive for the next year or so. As first impressions go, this was not one of her best. She glared at him with such intensity that it said 'watch it or you'll be waking up in the lake outside' all on its own. Sure it would be wise for her to be nice and friendly to him if only to make her job here easier but she was so not in the mood for acting. She could see him cower a bit before steeling himself against her glare and pointing to the albino kid behind him with two burly kids for bodyguards, mumbling about how he was the one to shove him into her. She raised an eyebrow at the boy who lived, mentally congratulating him for resisting her wolf glare albeit not in full power but still, impressive. She then turned to the albino asking if this was true, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Instead of an answer, all she got for her troubles was a sneer and an insult for being a Hufflepuff that should mind her own business.

  
At this, she finally snapped. Pinning him with her best glare she stalked up to him. The hero of Olympus stopped only a foot in front of him, making good use of the inch she had on him in height, and stated in a deathly quiet voice, "I'm making it my business so give me one good reason not bring this up to Professor Snape?" The kid looked terrified. She felt almost bad for him and would have felt more sympathy for him if she was not in rampage mode. To his credit though, the albino stood his ground and even through his terror, she could see the same analytical spark in his grey eyes she saw in Annabeth's.

  
Then he finally spoke. "Because I'll make your life hell". And the irony of the unexpected statement was not lost on her either. Her lips twitched into a brittle smirk that most probably looked as unhinged as she felt by the statement and a bitter laugh pushed its way through her parted lips before she whispered, "Show me your worst."

  
This seemed to hit some nerve because in a blink of an eye the terrified kid was gone and the albino's eyes held a hint of challenge as well as a whole lot of superiority and arrogance, like enough to rival Zeus. He stepped back, pulling out his wand and she did the same. Her stance we defensive, allowing him the first shot. "Imperio" was echoed in the by now vaguely empty hallway. She rolled under the spell and throw out her own "Impedimenta" which hit its mark.

  
While she could have just as easily have disarmed or stunned him, now that she had a fight, she wanted it to last. She was also pissed by his attempt at mind control. She had lost many things over the years including much of her sanity but the one thing she had never lost was her free will and she'll be damned if she allowed that to be taken from her too.

  
She stood from her kneeling position and dared him to hit her. Unfortunately, it seemed that he was also pissed and gladly complied with her request with a clear shout of "Reducto". The red flash of light hit her square in the chest and sent her flying over the railing. She was quick to catch herself on the edge of the floor but not without being rewarded with the pain of the backlash and her body slam into the wall. She was able to swing herself up, flipping in the process and landing on the railing with a grace that she didn't know she possessed. The albino looked like he was slowly trying to make his way to the railing which chilled her boiling anger some to a more manageable bite-sized serving. The two-time savior of the world had had enough of the fight though and wanted to wrap this up with a little bow on top. She flashed him a cheeky smile before disarming him with a quick "Expelliarmus" spell. She hopped off the banister and was about to walk off like the boss she was before she felt a hand grab her wrist.

  
What happened next was completely out of her control. She panicked and her body acted of its own accord. She twisted around and kneed the person in the gut before forcing her whole body weight to shift forward, pulling both her and the mystery person to the ground. Her body quickly pinned the person down, one knee digging into the gut, the other leg spread across both of the attacker's legs, trapping them. She had the hand that had grabbed her in a vice-like grip but before she could trap the other a fist slammed into her face, busting her lip. She used this to locate the attacker's arm and used her forearm to force down their arm soon enough had the arm pinned down as well. She then got a good look at her attacker and was so surprised by who she saw accidentally voiced her thoughts.

  
"Albino? What the shit are you doing?"

  
"I could bloody well ask you the same question."

  
Before she could introduce him to some classic Perci Jackson sass, she heard footsteps running their way. She looked up to see some professors she had yet to learn to names of followed by the boy who lived, her only friends here Fred and George Weasley, and a shit ton of other students that most definitely did not need to be here. George had to pull her off of the albino and had her leaning on him while Fred fretted over her injuries. She knew that they were making her out to be the victim and she could not be more grateful to have them as friends as she was in that moment. While she been walked to the infirmary wing, she passed by the albino being grilled and fussed over by Snape and they shared a look of cold indifference.

  
While the fight was a long time coming, it was not as enjoyable as she had hoped. She had ended up with detention for a week for fighting on school grounds and being late to class. The only good thing about the day was that she got to skip a few classes but even those hours were filled with being fussed over by the nurse which made her chest hurt with heartache for all those she left for this quest.

  
She thought of all this on her way to the Black Lake to wash away the pains of the day (was it too much to ask for it wash away her sins? Probably) with a reviving swim in the dead of night.


	2. Draco Malfoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What brings Draco to the Black Lake.

It all happened so fast. One minute he was doing his daily taunting of Potter between classes and the next Potter is stumbling back right into the path of a Hufflepuff passing by to get to class. A Hufflepuff with the fiercest glare he has ever seen. He didn't give her much thought though. Hufflepuffs were too afraid of just about everything to ever come near him and if one ever did come too close his sharp words will shoo them away just as quick as the name of the dark lord. But apparently, this was one of the braver Hufflepuffs, following in the footsteps of the late Cedric Diggory. She even had the audacity to talk to him and maybe even pity him. Why else would she give him the benefit of the doubt? But again, he didn't give her too much thought and tried to shoo her off. Instead, this seemed to aggravate her further as she began to stalk up to him. He didn't move. He was not going to give this 'puff the satisfaction of intimidating him.

  
That changed quickly when he met her eyes. They were a mesmerizing shade of green that was almost like a moving picture of the sea. Waves of green and blue seemed to clash with one another in a never-ending battle for dominance on their journey to the black island that is the pupil. And like the sea, her eyes were just as expressive and dangerous and held just as many secrets. Her glare was one of ultimate dominance and power like that of a wolf. It was terrifying and effective. She stopped before him.

  
60 seconds. That was all it took for her to break through his walls and defenses. And he hated it. Now it was his turn.

  
One reason. Well, he only had one chance at this so he had to read the eyes to the sea carefully and find something to poke at. But it was almost impossible and he was getting too old for the 'daddy card' as some put it. He was in Azkaban anyway so his father couldn't do anything even if he wanted to. He was surprised to find that other than anger, frustration, and sorrow that could rival his own, he found nothing. No emotion of hate or disgust or fear towards him lay in her eyes. And he couldn't fathom why. But that was of little consequence now anyway. She hated him like everyone else and if still not now then soon enough.

  
In the end, he settled for the generic, "I'll make your life hell."

  
That still seemed to hit a nerve of some kind for it to warrant the horrifying yet confusing reaction. Her smile was brittle and fake and her laugh was so bitter he could taste it in the air. Then her hollow whisper of a challenge was cringe-worthy. What had caused her such pain that it could felt by another such as himself? He was cold and heartless yet even he yearned to learn of her secrets to share her burden.

  
30 seconds. That's all it took for him to succumb to her challenge and fight his own battle.

20 seconds. In 20 seconds the fight was over with him stuck in slow motion. So at least it should have been over.

10 seconds. 10 seconds to shout, "Reducto" and watch the spell throw a girl off a floor to her death.

It also took 10 seconds to find out that she didn't die and was now enraged.

5 seconds to be disarmed.

And one second to remember all that happened and to realize that she was now leaving.

It all happened so fast. Once the spell wore off, he acted in the fastest way he could think to the girl who was now moving to leave. He grabbed her wrist with the intention of asking her for her name or to have the final word, he didn't know, but he felt compelled to do so. That he couldn't just let this end, couldn't just let her leave him. So he grabbed her wrist and that proved to be an almost fatal mistake.

It all happened so fast. One second he was holding her wrist and the next a pain bloomed in his abdomen causing him to double over. At the clock's next tick he was on the ground with a girl roughly pinning him down and on the tock his fist was ramming itself into her face, drawing blood from her split lip.

Tick. His arm joined the rest of his body firmly on the ground.

Tock. "Albino? What the shit are you doing?"

Tick. 'Albino?' He thought affronted.

Tock. "I could bloody well ask you the same question."

Tick. Footsteps pounded their way down the hall and he breathed out in relief. While the girl above him didn't seem to notice, she had her wand pointed right at his head and the heir of the ancient and noble house of Malfoy did not want to push his luck any farther.

Tock. The weight above him disappeared and arms pulled him up off the ground.

Tick. He shrugged off the arms and turned to leave only to be face to face with Professor Snape.

It seemed that second by second his life was unraveling before him. He couldn't fathom how he ended up here of all places: The Black Lake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is kind of short but next chapter will advance the plot, promise.  
> I hope you guys enjoyed it though and feel free the kudos and/or comment!! Thanks again to everyone who had kudos and extra thanks to everyone who commented! I read everyone of them even if i might respond a bit late lol. idk if I said this before but if I did then it bears repeating: All of the wonderful comments I've received have really made me feel so much more confident about reposting my work here and hopefully start posting more recent works too! It's been such a warm welcoming and I can't thank you guys enough. ^.^


	3. The Black Lake

_In a lake shrouded by myth_  
_A daughter and a son will meet_  
_To mend the bonds with a teary mist_  
_Only together will they fulfill this feat_  
_A spirit of false nobility will he oversee_  
_In favor of a blooming hope_  
_Allowing Eris to roam free_  
_In spite of a deathly hollow note_  
_Two worlds reunite_  
_A pact of love and pain_  
_A dark lord will they fight_  
_Under Victory's supreme reign_  
_The heirs to hidden worlds overcome their plight_  
_For hope have they regained_

The shadows that danced on the bottom of the Black Lake whispered chilling warnings to her while the merpeople's voices hummed an eerie melody into the currents making for a dark and entrancing song that seemed to be infused with magic.

Perci was not disappointed by her first time in a magical lake. The atmosphere was eerie but not creepy, dark but not dismal. The waters of the lake held a light and playful feel to its magic and the lake itself was full of life. It was a nice place to relax and she had even picked out a favorite spot. It was deep enough in the lake not to be seen but shallow enough to allow for the moon's rays to shine through and gave her easy visibility of the surface.

And that was where she was now, laying in her own patch of moonlight, surrounded by lively and magical waters that were healing both her body and soul and slowly being lulled to sleep by the lake's song. That is before she was disturbed from her peaceful musings by the feeling of something entering the lake.

"Who the hell could that be? For the gods' sakes, it's the middle of the night!"

Deciding to go investigate, Perci swam toward the surface for a clearer look at the intruder.

The intruder turned out to be feet.

No, thankfully, they were not disembodied feet. But she was wary. She wouldn't put it against the fates to do that to her though. Just look at all the shit they put her through already. She went through literal hell for a girl who she really loved only for it to not work out. She was never bitter about the breakup, it had been mutual after all, but she couldn't help but feel bitter about how the pit affected her relationships and her ability to make new ones. She was a very sociable person and just about lived to serve her friends. To not be able to connect with other people anymore...

She shivered at the thought, unable to bring herself to think of the consequences. 

Shaking the stray thoughts out of her head (damn you ADHD!), Perci looked up to see who had the same desire to spend the night at the lake. She was, to say the least, shocked to see the albino kid from earlier today sitting by the lake.

The question was, what was the heir of the noble house of Malfoy doing here of all places? 

(Yes, she knew his name. Trivia had drilled every ounce of wizard know how in her brain in the weeks before the year started. it's just more fun to annoy people with nicknames.) 

He sat on the end of the pier, his feet dangled in the water creating the small ripples she had felt as the intrusion. His face was washed in the pale moonlight erasing all flaws but for the small frown and knit brow he wore. His platinum blond hair glowed white in the moonlight. 

He seemed to be lost in thought and if the expression on his face was anything to go by, she would have to say that they were not about pink, fluffy, unicorns who were dancing on rainbows. 

But this boy was not the same boy with an ego to rival her uncle that she fought earlier.

Something was different. It was only when she looked up into his eyes that she saw what. 

His eyes conveyed emotions that were not there earlier today.

The emotion in his eyes was breathtaking and heartbreaking. Tinged with a bitter false hope, and tainted by hate, he looked stressed and lost. And she couldn't help but feel drawn to him. She had always been good at helping people, maybe she could help him. Maybe she could find a friend in him. Maybe...

Her thoughts were cut off when she found herself closer to the surface than she had liked to have been and way too close to Draco for comfort. She was about to dive back into the depths of the lake before he noticed her but it was too late. He decided at that moment to look into the lake and spotted her. 

He was completely still for a second in shock and while she knew she should have taken advantage of that time to flee, her body seemed to have a different idea. 

Her head broke the surface of the lake without a sound and with barely a ripple. She didn't even have enough thought to allow herself to get wet. 

He jumped back, pulling his legs out of the water and seemed ready to sprint back to the castle. 

"Wait!" She called out. 

He paused, still ready to run but willing to listen. She knew only had one shot at this. She kept her face carefully neutral before speaking. 

"Um, hi." 

Wow. She could have slapped herself then with how much she was annoyed with herself. She sounded so...awkward. Like really, she was sure she could have done better than that. Stupid, stupid, stup-

"Who are you?" 

The question sliced through her internal berating like butter to a knife. She had no time to think about his tone. To wonder if he was asking to know her from school or to know why she was completely dry in the middle of a lake. So she blurted out the first thing she thought of. 

"I'm a spirit."

Holy Hera! Why was she so stupid! How was she supposed to pull that off? No scratch that. What type of friendship that is one that started out of a lie? She didn't have the answer, but she knew enough to know that it was nothing good. 

But before she could retract her statement, he spoke. 

"Really? What are you the spirit of?"

She would imagine that she looked startled and surprised before she gained her composer again. He looked on guard but more relaxed and had settled down on the end of the pier again. 

"Well..."

Might as well keep it up. Mentally shrugging, she did just that. 

"...I'm the lady of the black lake."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit short, I wasn't really that good at longer chapters back when I first wrote this. Also I'm unsure if the prophesy/poem bit in the beginning will actually mean anything later on but take that as you wish. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Comments and kudos are always awesome just like you guys are ^.^  
> Until next chapter! ~infinity


	4. Detention - Part I

Draco couldn't sleep. And while this wasn't all that uncommon fit for him, it was still unsettling. Usually, the feeling was more of an overactive mind, but today it seemed that it was his body that did not want to rest.

He was ready for this day to be over. He had gotten into a fight (a physical fight with a Hufflepuff no less!), loss said fight (let's make this clear, to a Hufflepuff!), had gotten detention with McGonagall and threatened and fussed over by Snape. He had no opinion on what part was the worst. They were all equally horrible.

So in an effort to relax, he got out of bed intending to wander the halls until he tired himself out. In the next moment, he found himself at the lake. 

He stared blankly at the dark waters that were so much like the dark sea-green eyes of the Hufflepuff. He could still see them, glowing with power and authority, swirling with emotion, and burning with a passion he had never before seen in anyone else. His brow furrowed in confusion at his own line of thoughts.

What was so special about this girl to leave such a lasting impression?

Maybe it was the way that she held no judgment of him. They had never met before but he was sure she had to have heard something about him. You don't go to Hogwarts without it. The fact that she held no contempt or disgust toward him instead, giving him the benefit of the doubt, was nothing short of a miracle. 

But maybe it was the way that, despite the power and authority in her glare, her eyes seemed almost broken. Like a shattered glass that was too stubborn to break. She was bruised and scarred but not broken. And Draco wanted to know why. Not for a maleficent reason like usually, but to maybe understand her. And maybe be understood as well. 

It was then, sitting on the edge of the dock with his bare feet hanging in the water, that he saw glowing blue-green eyes staring at him from just under the water and a face framed by inky black hair. 

He jumped back, startled, when the head surfaced, completely dry.

It was then that he met a girl (spirit?) who held the most cryptic answers he had ever heard (and this coming from someone who had to put up with Luna's insanity for years now).

For the rest of the short night and into the next day his thoughts were solely on the lake spirit and the girl she replicated so flawlessly in appearance. He paid no attention to his lessons, his mind too far away trying to unravel the enigma that was the spirit.

That was how he was found at the end of class, staring into nothing and mumbling to himself, looking for all its worth like he's finally lost his marbles.

It wasn't until someone tapped him that he was broken from his trance-like state only to be alone in the room with Professor Snape staring down at him, almost into his soul. He hastily apologized while gathering his stuff, swiftly making his way out of the room. Sadly before he could make his speedy escape to the great hall, the potions master called him back to remind him of his detention.

That's where Draco Malfoy found himself now. Stuck in detention with a bunch of delinquents and rowdy Gryffindors, staring at the green-eyed Hufflepuff in front of him. 

'They just look so alike...'

His mind wandered back to last night's scene on the lake.

They had gone through some very awkward introductions and while he was still skeptical, he was too curious to back out now. He sat at the end of the pier, the lake spirit sitting beside him in a surprisingly comfortable silence, both lost in their own thoughts. The silence was broken when a question hit him.

"Why do you look like that?"

The spirit just looked confused, maybe a little hurt though he didn't understand why. He quickly backtracked, his face warm with embarrassment, when he realized.

"No, not like it's - nevermind. You just look exactly like someone from school. I wanted to know why." 

He tried to keep his face neutral but failed to stop himself from biting the corner of his bottom lip. He'd rather not offend the spirit while so close to the water. In retrospect, he really had nothing to worry about. She had only lifted a dark brow, unimpressed, but the small smile and the amusement that sparkled in her green eyes spoke differently. That is before she shifted her gaze to her lake, expression now thoughtful.

"It's kind of hard to explain."

"Can you try?" he urged.

She let out a frustrated (or was it annoyed) puff of air before beginning.

"Well, I can look like many things..."

He continued staring at her, silently urging her on. She was stalling, he knew it, but he didn't know why.

Her eyes, then, seemed to spark with...something. She had her answer.

"...but I naturally look like the person it's easiest for you to talk to."

That had confused him. It's not like he knew her, hell he didn't even catch her name!

He explained this but his only answer was a shrug, a cryptic smile, and...

"Sometimes its easier to talk to strangers than your loved ones."

It was then that the sound of feet slamming down on the ground, quickly making their way toward the pier was heard. They both turned to look but when Draco looked back, the spirit was gone without a trace or a name to remember her by. 

Not that he really needed one. The spirit had left quite the impression on him. His theory as to why had to do with circumstances sure (I mean who gets to meet a fiery Hufflepuff and a lake spirit in one day, not many) but he had to believe it had to do more with their eyes than anything.

'...yet they're so different.' 

The spirit's eyes were sad and lonely, yet kind and friendly and open. She seemed to be a gentle soul, one who had been abandoned and isolated for too long and only wanted friendship. 

The Hufflepuff, however, had eyes that were hardened to diamonds: beautiful, sharp, and deadly. They held a fire that the spirit lacked and while the spirit's eyes were sad, the Hufflepuff's eyes were burdened with sorrow, a hidden fury, and secrets that were to be guarded with her soul.

The lady of the lake, probably centuries old, seemed younger than the Hufflepuff, not physically - no they looked exactly the same - but, again, their eyes.

Those sea-green orbs that never ceased to swirl with emotion. How could those same eyes be described in such extreme opposites?  
Those sea-green eyes that were staring right at him.

That snapped him out of it faster than Snape's glare ever could.

He quickly looked down at the open textbook page they were to read as punishment, trying to look as casual as possible. He could have sworn that she was asleep. He looked up, still facing the book on his desk to take a peek at the noirette only to see her still looking at him. Her dark brows drawn together in confusion as her eyes swirled with nothing but irritation. Cherry red lips were pursed together with traces of a smirk.

He dropped his eyes again as his face warmed from the pure embarrassment of being caught staring - not once but twice now - all the while mentally cursing.


	5. Detention - Part II

When the end of the hour was up, there was a flood of students making their way to the exit, creating a bottleneck at the door. Draco merely rolled his eyes at their shenanigans before turning back to his work. After being caught staring, twice, by the noirette, he had decided to distract himself by burying himself in work. By the time detention period was over, he had finished the assignment given and had most of his potions essay done, leaving only care of magical creatures homework to be done which was relatively easy (really the class was a joke, no one took it seriously, including him). 

But Draco, being the cunning snake all Slytherins were supposed to be, stayed back and waited for the congested doorway to clear out. In the meantime, he took his time in packing his things, lazily glancing about for any suspicious activities that he could look into later. In one such glance, he caught the Hufflepuff still lounging in her seat, eyes shut with a peaceful expression on her sculpted face. He was surprised to see her still here, having thought her one of the first to run out of the room once her time was served. Either she had a similar idea as he did and was waiting out the storm of teens or she was simply still napping, not even aware that detention was over. With the accounting of her calm expression and her steady breathing (not that he was looking or anything), he concluded that it was the latter rather than the former. He scoffed. 'How typical.' He had half a mind to wake her but then reasoned against it (he honestly didn't even know the girl and it would be most inappropriate). 

Instead, he gathered his packed bag and robe before marching out the room with all the grace and dignity he possessed. As he passed through the doorway, he caught sight of the so-called "Golden Trio" loitering near the door but didn't pay them any mind. Draco didn't need to look to know that they were surprised. The offended voice of the second youngest Weasley shouting at him in challenge was enough and it brought a small smirk to his pale lips.

As he rounded the corner, Draco spared a glance at the trio to see them arguing rather loudly (no doubt about his behavior - and didn't that make him feel smug-) but took a second longer to watch as the green-eyed 'puff exited the detention room to join the trio, who were apparently waiting for her. The Malfoy heir felt an overwhelming sense of confusion, tinted strangely by a vague sense of disappointment and bitterness. Of course, she was friends with Potter. When had they even met anyway? 

_They probably bonded over their mutual hate of him after their fight; he did land her in detention._

That thought made the vague bitterness and disappointment sharpen, stinging his heart and making him grimace lightly. Here he was, daydreaming of her - in one form or another - all morning, thinking about how she was one of few to show him genuine kindness, only to find out that she was no different from the others. And maybe it was delusional to think that he had found a kindred spirit in her, someone as battered and bruised as he was; that maybe they could understand one another and-

"And what?" He whispered to himself realizing that he didn't have the answer. But what did it matter, anyway? The alleged kindred spirit was having a jolly good time with the 'Gilded' trio.

Draco turned around and glared at the said trio. His glare softened considerably when he saw the noirette's shoulders suddenly stiffen. Thinking she had felt his glare, he moved out of sight, ready to bolt (with dignity) if need be. From behind the hall's sharp bend, he silently witnessed her drop off from the group and stride away angrily. Potter ran after her and stepped into her path, trapping her. She crossed her arms, glared down at him, and commanded him to **"Move Potter"**. The 16-year old's stance faltered and left him cringing, slightly cowering, from the authority in her voice and the harshness of her glare. Draco didn't blame him and almost empathized with him. Almost. Still, Potter held his ground and tried to reason with her. It seemed to have the opposite effect, only serving to enrage her further. 

Tired of watching mimes, Draco cast a notice-me-not-charm and silently crept closer until he was in hearing range of their conversation.

"Do you know him? Can you honestly tell me that you know who Draco is?"

The silence that followed was deafening yet spoke volumes.

Draco didn't know what to expect but it certainly wasn't this. The Hufflepuff was...defending him? Well, that was definitely a first. The bitter taste of guilt lapped at his tongue, burning at his lips to utter an apology. It took all his self-restraint to seal his lips in a thin line. Draco Malfoy does not apologize (not to mention it would expose his eavesdropping). 

The Hufflepuff continued to stare down the bespectacled Gryffindor, almost searchingly, before her expression softened to a sort of vague sadness. Her ever-shifting eyes portrayed an expanse of wisdom that reached far beyond her years, and her lips settled into a smile nearly as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa's. In a soft whisper, she shared her wisdom. 

"Be kind, Harry, because we're all fighting a war that no one will ever see."

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked off. Though, before she got far, Potter called out to her, asking what that was supposed to mean as he and the rest of the trio looked as lost as the Slytherin felt. The Hufflepuff's only response was to toss a small smile over her shoulder and the no less cryptic answer of, "You'll know soon enough." Her smile only got wider when she glanced in his direction before she turned the corner (the same bend he was previously hiding behind) and was gone.

She was gone from sight but hardly from mind, leaving a befuddled little group of four with more questions than answers.

Questions that Draco was determined to find the answers to - for the sake of his sanity.


	6. All Hollow's Eve - Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is coming and with it the horrors of high school drama.

Perci was tired.

She'd been running around all week trying to get her shit together to no avail. Between classes, keeping the twins out of trouble (which was a full time job on its own, but wait there's more!) keeping an eye out for Potter, keeping up with her demigod training while keeping it secret, and avoiding/befriending Draco at the same time, well she was absolutely beat. All she wanted now was a nice long bath and to sleep forever (at least until the world was bored with screwing with her life).

So it was understandable that she had completely forgotten that tomorrow was Halloween and - more importantly - the dance that night.

Walking into the Hufflepuff girl's dormitory, she made a beeline for her bed and flopped down face first into the fluffy sheets. She was just about to drift away when she heard one of her dorm mates mention her name. She ignored them, wiggling her way up the bed to reach the pillows and lay down more comfortably, hoping that they'll get the hint and leave her to her nap.

"What about you Perci? Got a date yet?"

That got her awake. What would she need a date for?

"What?" was her groggy reply. 

"For the dance," answered Kat, her grade's prefect. She was a nice girl if a bit severe at times, following the rulebook word for word. It was a small miracle that she had slipped past her for this long in order to get some training in during the night. 

'Let's not forget the late night rendezvous' with a certain quote on quote Albino.'

'Shut up,' she hissed at her conscious before cursing her ADHD for what must have been the umpteenth time this past hour.

"What dance?" Dread began to pool in her stomach at the mere thought of what possibly awaited her in what seemed to be the very near future.

Kat looked entirely unimpressed as some of the other girls stared at her, scandalized.

"What other dance but the All Hollow's Eve Bash?"

All Hollow's Eve...Bash. Well shit.

 

– Ψ –

The next day was Halloween and Hogwarts seemed hellbent on not letting her forget it. Students fluttered about with gossip, conferring on what they were going to wear, making plans.

Gossipping about who's going with who.

Ugh. Why did she come here, again? It was probably dumb to have thought a magical high school would be any different from regular high school. Teens would be teens, with or without magic.

Pale arms wrapped around her shoulders and a weight fell on her back, legs clamping around her torso. 

Her mind went into overload and she would have flipped the offender off her back had she not recognized the light teasing tone that filtered through her blank mind.

"Why the long face, Seph?"

It was just Fred, the annoying bugger he was.

She forced her body to relax, hands coming down to hold his thighs in order to stop him from slipping off.

George popped up next to her, the Weasley Smirk™ plastered on his freckled face. 

"Aww. Freddy, I think our little Sephy is sad she doesn't have a date!"

'Sephy' rolled her eyes and started toward her next class, Fred still just chilling on her back, resting his chin on the crown of her head. 

"As if. And it's not like your sorry ass got a date either."

George flushed pink and Fred snickered at his twin's misfortune. He turned on his twin getting a ride to his next class with a glare. 

"Shut up. You don't have one either!"

Perci could feel Fred smirking if the pressure his chin was exerting on her skull was anything to go by. 

"I didn't try," he said with a shrug.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Yeah, I think that was for the best. Who knows how many girls you would have traumatized."

The shocked sound Fred made was enough to make a smirk stretch across her face as she fist-bumped with George. 

"Do you need something for the scorch, mate?"

"Shut up! Et tu Perce. I thought we were ganging up on Georgie!"

"Oh, you're not George?"

A squawk of indignation had George bursting into laughter.

"Oh, that's it!" And the twin she was carrying then proceeded to ruffle her hair, ruining the waterfall braid she had actually put effort into this morning.

"Hey!" George was of no help since he was doubled over in laughter, hugging his stomach. 

Fine then. If they were playing dirty then so would she and proceeded to unceremoniously drop the grinning Weasley on his ass.

"Oww! Perrrccciii!" Fred's whining fell on deaf ears as she just kept walking, throwing a wave and an innocent smile before turning the corner.

 

– Ψ –

George Weasley sat down next to his twin, fighting to calm down from the hilarity that just ensued, knowing they were already late as it was. There was no need to rush.

He saw his brother looking at the corner their friend had just turned with longing and smirked, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"You're so fucked, mate."

A sigh, "Yep."

He huffed a laugh, pulling himself up with the help of his twin's shoulder, lending out a hand and helping Fred up once he found his feet. 

They started their way to class in an easy silence. 

"You should just tell her you know," George stated randomly.

The other Weasley sighed like they've had this conversation one too many times (which they had). 

"There are so many reasons not to and you know it, starting with her girlfriend."

They didn't know the whole story, just the basics. That Perci had a girlfriend back in the states that she had to leave behind in order to attend Hogwarts. They knew that they had broken up but that still didn't mean much. Perci was still obviously hung up on her ex and there was still the question if she was even interested in dating, more specifically dating guys. Perci probably wouldn't mind if they asked but George knew that his twin feared Perci would expect them to judge her or treat her differently (which they wouldn't but that conversation could go downhill all too quickly). 

So they were at an impasse. Well, Fred was. George couldn't care less. He just wanted his twin to stop moping and do something about it already!

"Ex," George pointed out feebly.

"That's the point."

"Well if she says no, then she says no! Simple as that. It won't be the end of the world." 

Fred sighed, defeated. "Your right..."

"Soooo~?"

Eyes identical to his looked at him in puzzlement. 

"So what?"

"So, are you gonna ask her to the dance?"

Fred's freckled face exploded in red. 

"No!"

"What? Why not?"

"Because!"

"You just agreed with me! You're not going to get a better chance than this."

"...Alright."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah..."

"Awesome!"

Fred raised an eyebrow at his outburst. He grinned back. 

"Guess Perci's been rubbing off on me."

"Uh huh."

"What now?"

"Nothing," his twin said with a sly smile.

"What you twat!"

"Just thinking that maybe I'm not the only one with a little crush on an American." 

"What other...?" It dawned on him, the youtube videos of her friends Perci's been showing them whenever they could get away with it. The severe-looking Puerto Rican girl who was so cute when she laughed and just stunning in everything else.

He turned to give his twin a piece of his mind only to find air and laughter coming from down the hall.

He grinned and ran after him.

 


	7. All Hallows Eve - Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the eve of the dance and Perci just wants to sleep. Unfortunate that no one cares for her plans. Since when did she ever get what she wanted?

Halloween came with some perks, Perci had to admit as her final class of the day ended in time for lunch.

She was making her way through the crowded halls when someone bumped into her, sending her books spiraling to the ground, flinging papers in every direction on impact.

She stared at the mess in front of her blankly before sighing and kneeling to gather what papers she could without getting trampled over. Before long another set of hands started picking up papers with her.

"Oh, you don't have to do that!" She didn't want someone to go without lunch on her account.

The stampede of hungry students started to thin out and making it easier to retrieve some of the papers that fell further away.

"It's fine. I'm always getting my papers knocked over in the halls."

Perci reached for a sheet of paper at the same time as the boy helping her only to reach an impasse as they both paused above the sheet.

Perci retracted her hand a bit only for the boy to do the same. She quickly snatched up the sheet, huffing out a laugh, before this impasse got less endearing and more annoying.

Gathering her papers in one hand she made to haul herself up to her feet only to see a hand thrust before her. She looked up to see her helper looking down and away with an adorable blush; her papers being cradled to his chest.

She smiled softly and took his hand, allowing herself to be hauled to her feet. She dusted off her pants (yes pants, it was too damn cold to be wearing a mini skirt, sue her) and straightened out her shirt and robe before looking up at him. And then looked a little further up.

Despite her impressive five foot nine stature, the guy was tall and not by a measly inch like Jason. He had at least three or four inches on her which was a strange sensation, to say the least. With the exception of Chiron, Jason, Annabeth, and a handful of other campers, she was used to looking at least a bit below her eye level to talk to people. She was even at eye level with most gods when in their mortal form. So it was a little unsettling to have to tilt her head back a bit to meet his eyes.

Despite his height, he looked to be younger than her by about a year or two. He wore red and gold, Gryffindor colors which was of no surprise. Most of the school seemed to be made up of them. Them and Slytherin.

She held out her hand for her papers and he scrambled to give them to her, almost dropping them again in the process.

"Thank you," she told him sincerely as she took back her papers from him.

"No problem," he responded quickly, nervously wringing his hands.

She smiled at him one last time before walking away towards the Great Hall, organizing her papers in her arms as she walked.

She heard light jogging but didn't look up from her papers.

"Hey, so umm."

She raised an ebony brow and nodded to show she was listening but otherwise didn't change her concentration.

"I-I was wondering...i-if, um..."

Wait that wasn't right. Shit did she...?

"I-if you'd-"

"Damnit!" She shot the kid an apologetic look as she scrounged around in her bag for her pen (because really Hogwarts? Quills? No. Just no.)

"I'm super sorry for cutting you off like this but I'm an idiot and forgot to give in my charms essay so now I have to give it in and hope I don't land my ass in detention." She found a pen and bit the cap off and tore a corner off a random page of notes, scribbling her name and grade and handing it to the kid who looked kind of lost.

"Here. You can tell me whatever you wanted to ask me later, k?"

Sending him another smile she ran off to give in her essay, not knowing that the twins had watched the whole affair and had just sentenced the kid to his own personal hell.

– Ψ –

After lunch, she and the other Hufflepuff girls made their way to their dorm, chatting excitedly along the way while Perci contemplated the logic in going to the dance. She didn't have a date and she didn't even have a costume.

I should just stay in and catch up on some sleep. Maybe IM Annabeth while everyone's out.

Much like yesterday, she trudged up to her bed and fell into it face first, curling up on top of the covers like a cat.

She ignored the chatter of the girls around her as they got ready and was left alone for the most part. That is until, much like yesterday (jeez, Déjà vu much?), Kat decided to single her out and everyone turned to her, expecting an answer.

"I'm not going," she stated simply, muffled by a pillow her had curled up around.

There were a few disappointed 'awws' that made her feel a little better than if they had just dismissed her entirely but for the most part everyone just went back to their conversations.

Someone poked her in the cheek causing her to open her eyes and send a glare at the perpetrator from the corner of her eye.

Kat's strange violet colored eyes held a playful light as she sat down on Perci's bed. They took on a more serious but kind look as Perci curled into herself even more. A pale hand reached out, little hesitant, and pet her hair.

"Is this about not having a date?"

"No," the demigoddess answered petulantly.

"Then why don't you want to go?"

"I just don't."

The prefect just hummed, thoughtful.

"Even if I wanted to go, It's not like I have anything to wear..."

"So if you did have something to wear then would you go?"

"well, not exactly..."

But the prefect wasn't listening anymore, mind made up for her apparently. Perci cursed herself for saying anything. It must have been the head massage. She hadn't had a moment of peace since she set foot in Hogwarts, no even earlier than that really. She had almost been lulled to sleep and that had loosened her dumb tongue.

"Ladies! Perci here wants to go to the dance but seems have forgotten to get a costume! Let's help her out!"

And then before she could blink she was swarmed by her dorm mates.

This is gonna be how I die, isn't it?

– Ψ –

She didn't die but it was a near thing, between hair brushing (that they thankfully quickly gave up on) and having to sit still while they applied an unknown amount of makeup, it was a torture that she wouldn't wish on anyone.

By the end she was almost afraid to look in the mirror, fearing not recognizing her face as her own.

But when the girls dragged her to the mirror, she didn't - couldn't have expected this.

In the glass stood a woman, her every curve hugged with affection by the fitted but not revealing knee-high black dress. Leather ankle boots adorned her feet with a matching leather jacket, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. A gold collar rested at the base of her throat and her hair tumbled over her shoulders in wild unkempt curls, a headband with black fuzzy ears holding the rest back. Her face held a natural beauty, makeup used sparingly to accent her natural features, lips stained rouge, green eyes heavily lined with dark kohl and winged out sharply. She looked stunning.

It wasn't until Kat walked up behind her and smiled in the mirror that she realized the woman was her.

"This is just - wow. I don't even know where to start." Tearing her eyes away from the mirror, Perci turned to her housemates, gratitude shining in her eyes, "Thank you."

The girls all beamed back at her before engulfing her in suffocating group hug. She turned to Kat for help but Kat just giggled before taking pity on her when her face started getting red.

"Okay guys, that's enough of that. We do want Perci to get to the dance in one piece after all."

At the mention of the dance, all the girls quickly detached to touch up their own outfits and makeup. Percy threw a grateful smile at the prefect, leaving quickly before the crazy girl could get any more ideas.

– Ψ –

Walking into the Great Hall, she became quite the spectacle, one she cursed Kat for.

Scanning the room, she found the twins near the food table and made a beeline for them but not before dodging a dozen or so dance request and attempts at conversation. As if they really cared for what she thought, they had only noticed her for her dress and their eyes kept wandering to it instead of her face. She withheld a sneer behind a frosty smile at the thought.

When she had finally reached the twins she released a sigh but before she could garner their attention, she found her path blocked by another boy. She restrained a growl when she noticed it was the boy from earlier and, with effort, defrosted her smile a bit.

"Hello, again."

"Um hi."

"So did you get your paper in?"

"Huh?" Random much?

"You forgot to give in a paper last time so you ran off."

"Oh, well yeah. I got it in but not without a lecture on punctuality." The boy cracked a grin but still looked incredibly uncomfortable and nervous. As the pause in the conversation stretched into awkward territory, Perci granted the boy mercy.

"So what were you trying to ask me earlier?"

"Oh! Right! Um, I - I was going to ask you to - to the - the dance but well were already here so um yeah."

Perci raised a single brow, expectation in her eyes. When he didn't continue she responded with an "And?" and watched as a red blush crept up his neck. She felt bad for being like this to the kid. He was obviously pretty shy and flustered and he admittedly had some balls to have the courage to ask a girl for a date. She just felt a little impatient with everyone today but she shouldn't take that out on him.

Sighing she said, "Never mind, come on let's dance," and dragged him on to the dance floor. He came along, tripping over his feet and a blush ridding high on his cheeks but more than anything his face was awash with surprise and giddy happiness. They talked while they waltzed, both stepping on each other's toes and giggling like mad. It was fun, Perci realized and let herself get washed away with the tide of unfiltered joy that ran through the room.

"Hey. What's your name by the way?" The boy blinked before laughing softly at himself, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't introduce myself did I?" Sticking out his hand he announced, "Neville Longbottom, Gryffindor, Year 6." Perci smiled back at the dramatic introduction, shaking his hand with a simple, "Perci Jackson" for an intro.

– Ψ –

Perci spent quite a while with Neville so it was halfway through the celebrations before she left to find the twins.

Instead, she found one, Harry Potter.

When she couldn't see the twins at first glance, she decided to step out into hallways outside for a bit of a breather. There, she had found Potter sitting on a staircase as it swung by.

Stepping onto the moving stairs is something she had yet to master and by the time she had scrambled up the stairs, Potter had noticed her and was staring.

They sat side by side for a while in silence. She was about to offer the kid a drink if only to break the oppressive silence when Potter spoke.

"What did you mean?"

"About what?"

Potter didn't say anything for a bit, carefully considering if he wanted to have his conversation, but the mystery sitting next to him has been eating him up for too long now. He wanted answers. A small whisper, as enigmatic as Perci, told him that he may not get them, only more questions. It was a risk he was willing to take.

"What did you mean when you said to be kind?"

Perci's gaze quickly shifted from playful and warm to sharp, calculating, and something hollow and haunted. There was comfort in that hollow gaze. It matched his better.

"Exactly what I said." And no, he needed more than that this time. He didn't understand but felt like he had to. That this was vital. Logic said it was probably the way Perci said it, 'Be kind Harry.' like there was something deeper to be understood there.

Be kind.

It was so basic yet wise that Harry didn't know what to make of it.

"Not everyone has obvious problems, Harry. But everyone has issues. Some people just hide it better than others."

Harry met her gaze and studied the way her eyes were fathoms deep while the soft smile on her face sank no deeper than her skin.

"Like you?" Rude and borderline cruel to a person who was trying to comfort him, Harry should have stayed in his bed if this was what grief make him into.

Instead of dropping in anger or offense, Perci's smile deepened to reveal dimples and a row of glimmering teeth.

"Yes, like me."

– Ψ –

Perci soon left to get a drink, one a little stronger than the punch, and thus was searching once more for the Weasley twins.

She found them once more near the food table, conveniently next to the punch bowl.

"Hey, boys!"

The twins jumped and spun around to face her, blocking off all access to the punch bowl. Perci raised a brow at their behavior and put her hands on her hips when both boy's jaws dropped at the sight of her.

George was the first to speak: "Perce! Wow, you look great!" Nudging his brother, Fred responded similarly before they sent her dual smiles of innocence that, if anything, proved that they were up to no good.

She felt a smile tug at her lips, "Thanks but flattery will get you nowhere. What's with the punch bowl?" 

"Nothing." The twins said in unison.

"Uh huh. So can I get some?"

"No!" And they promptly scrambled to for some excuse before she interrupted them.

"Really guys. I'm hurt. Truly hurt. I can't believe you would plan a prank without me!" A pout on her lips and a hand clutching her chest completed the feigned look of betrayal.

The twins had the decency to look the slightest bit guilty and that was fine enough with her. With a loud laugh, she slotted herself between them, tossed her arms around each of their shoulders and with an exaggeratedly sly grin announced, "But I'm sure we can work this out. Now, who are we pranking?"

The boys shared a glance between them before twin smirks appeared. "I don't know Forge. Should we tell her?"

"My dear Gred. One does not simply reveal pranking secrets!" 'Forge' gave her a teasing once over. "Especially not to amateurs."  
Perci sniffed with the air of dignity, "Please. As if you could ever hope to reach the level of magnificence that is me." Voice pitched to her best British accent, head held high, and nose sticking out in the air; she looked and sounded the part of a British aristocrat. Well looked the part certainly, she sounded more like a bad impression of the Queen.

There was a pause as Perci struggled to keep a straight face and the twins just stared. Then George broke first, giggles (chuckles, Fred would correct her later. 'They're the same thing though.' 'No, chuckles are more manly!' 'Manly giggles.' 'Exactly!') escaping him that started a chain reaction, ending with the three of them leaning on each other, carry each other's weight so that they don't all collapse under the sheer force of their laughter.

Trust the Weasley twins to always get her to laugh.


	8. All Hallows Eve - Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is Draco's favorite holiday so he's hoping for a fun night. Naturally, the universe agrees... with a slightly different definition of "fun".

Draco Malfoy was, for once, having a half decent day. This morning's buffet contained some of his favorite pastries, the sun seemed to want to peek out from the clouds, and it was Halloween. Though he could do without all the gossip that circulated around the school on these sorts of occasions, Draco really did enjoy the holiday. On this day he would remember some of the depressingly few fond memories he had of his childhood. Still so easily awed by magic, his parents would use theirs to perform some tricks that, on any other day, would earn a sneer of disgust from the purebloods. 

Within the Wizarding world, October was often a time of celebration; a time where their world and the world of muggles can tangle closer than any other time of the year. Hazy and haunted, wizards seemed to revel in their magic during this time and the Malfoys were no different.

And of course, they all dressed up. The lady of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy would dress as the muggle version of a witch every year. She seemed to enjoy the irony. Lord Malfoy would change his costume every couple of years, sometimes dressing as Merlin, sometimes as other historical wizards with as much accuracy as he could manage, and sometimes as a Vampire. Which just so happens to be what Draco chose for this year's costume. He knew it would piss off Granger, what with her current campaign against offensive costumes of the "Marginalized Magical Community" as she put it*. He brought the tackiest muggle costume he could find in London just for this (though he did replace the polyester cape for a silk one lined with fur - he wouldn't be caught dead in that monstrosity). 

He was correct in his assumption. He hadn't taken two steps into the repurposed Great Hall before Granger was in his face preaching about how wrong this and that was and something or the other. He wasn't really listening, just watching as she got progressively more red in the face. He smirked. "And what are you supposed to be?"

She stopped her rant, midsentence, blinked at him for a second, then answered testily, "The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland."

That explained the rabbit ears on her head, the big round clock hanging from her neck, along with the white poofy dress she wore with a jacket that looked stolen from a 17th-century navy officer. But that didn't explain the other two that always seem to be trailing after the witch. 

Glancing over Granger's shoulder, he saw that both boys were wearing what looked to be stereotypical French outfits, adorned with berets and striped shirts. The only difference between them was the picture of bread on Potter's chest and the heavy metal make up on Weasley's face. He didn't bother hiding his snort at the sight of them. 

"And them?" Pouring as much derision into the question as possible.

Potter spoke up first. "I'm French Toast, " his statement quickly followed by Weasley pointing at himself and proclaiming, "French Kiss." 

He couldn't help it. He laughed. Out loud. A true and genuine laugh that shook his whole body and brought tears to his eyes. By the time he caught his breath his cheeks hurt and he found himself - briefly - beaming at the school's golden trio. He caught himself quickly enough for neither Potter or Weasley to notice but Granger - the observant bugger - looked startled for the briefest moment before her expression morphed into something odd. Ron Weasley, on the other hand, seemed to take offense to his laughing fit. Red in the face and fuming, he stomped up to Granger's side and demanded to know what exactly was so funny. Potter silently stepped up to Granger's other side. A united front - disgusting.

His usual sneer now well in place (do that enough and you'll get wrinkles his mother's voice chided him) Draco responded with disturbingly easy venom. 

"You both look absolutely ridiculous. Those have to be both the dumbest ideas and ugliest costumes I've ever had the displeasure to notice. You really would have made a great tomato though, Weasley." 

And Ron only got redder under all his make up at the suggestion. He looked a second away from lashing out. Good. That might distract Granger from staring at him like a he was a new species to dissect. Potter seemed to realize the situation too, glancing quickly between Ron and Hermione before elbowing Granger in the side. The witch startled from whatever thought she'd been busy with before also glancing around her. Noticing Ron about to have a fit she quickly grabbed the two Gryffindor wizards and pulled them away from Draco, throwing a final dirty look over her shoulder to combat his smirk as they walk off. 

The Malfoy heir didn't look to see where they went. He had won this match (as he usually did) and so was off to find some better company and something to drink. His throat felt awfully dry. 

~ ζ ~ 

Hermione quietly stashed her wand back into her jacket pocket before sitting a raging Ron down at one of the tables.

~ ζ ~

After getting himself a glass of punch and finding a huddle of Slytherins around a tall table near the center, if off to the side, of the Great Hall, Draco was settling in for the rest of the dance, when there was a commotion by the door. By the door, someone had entered and was causing quite the stir as - almost like a ripple - everyone turned to look at the presumed stranger. Even the Slytherins eagerly, if covertly, turned their attention to the brewing catastrophe in the making. 

Murmurings could be heard but Draco was at a loss as to what was going on. Who was it? He cast a questioning glance back at his housemates but most - to his ire - didn't notice, trying on their own to figure out who was the mystery person. Only Pansy noticed and shrugged in answer. "It's a girl, that's all I know."

Oh, well that makes sense. So, it's just a bunch of boys drooling over a girl, wonderful. How boring.

Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to his drink. And just when he was hoping for some excitement. 

~ ζ ~

Over the course of the dance (where he danced with a few girls but mostly stuck with his own band), Draco found himself increasingly more thirsty. It wasn't too odd at first - the Great Hall currently hosted two huge fireplaces that roared with tall scorching flames - but it passed the point of ridiculousness when he found himself spending more time by the punch bowl (or cauldron as it was) than by his friends. Deciding to get a glass of water instead of punch this time, he turned away from the poorly flirting Ravenclaw girl to make his way to the snack table. 

Only to walk straight into someone, spilling what little alcohol Pansy had been able to sneak in on the offender's shoes. Leather heels, she was lucky it was vodka he spilled and not mead. That would have been a real bastard to clean off. 

"Shit!"

Blinking, Draco looked up and started without thinking, "You should've been lookin'..." And tilted his head back some more before he met his offender's eyes - and just stopped.

Green. Her eyes were green. 

Green eyes widened when the girl recognized him too. 

He repeated her earlier sentiment.

'Shite.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best chapter IMO but I hope you guys enjoy it!  
> **note: I thought that Draco would absolutely hate SJWs (Social Justice Warriors) and Hermione is basically the wizarding equivalent so yeah. Draco totally picks fights with the trio just for the fun of it. (Also the author doesn't share his hate of SJWs nor does she condone bullying just a disclaimer lol).


	9. All Hallows Eve - Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco's night gets complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics at the beginning are the last bit of last chapter. Just to make it flow better.

_Green. Her eyes were green._

_Green eyes widened when the girl recognized him too._

_He repeated her earlier sentiment._

_'Shite.'_

 

Double, no triple shite. Draco hadn't seen the Hufflepuff since detention weeks ago (has it been a month now?). Wait, that was a lie. He had seen the Hufflepuff's face once a week at the Black Lake since that fight, worn by the lake's resident spirit - hell he had just met with her last night.

(He had laughed at a story about her - he assumed - mermaid friends and when he wiped the tears from his eyes and looked back at his - friend? - she had the softest look in her eyes. The closest to happiness he had yet to witness from the depressed spirit. Then she had smiled, dimples and crooked lips and all, and he felt something deep in his chest ache.)

(He didn't have any nightmares last night either.)

It was possibly the only reason he recognized her now. Looking nothing like the feral Hufflepuff of the hallway, the girl with impossibly green eyes instead looked prim and well put together if on the more punk side of things. Makeup bringing out her sharper features, raven hair loosely tumbling over her leather-clad shoulders, and heels making her far too tall - she could have passed for a perfect stranger. 

So correction, he hadn't **met** the girl who inspired the spirit's appearance since the fight in the hallway. And this was possibly the worst time he could have ran into the girl, what with him being at least buzzed if not halfway to drunk right now and the spirit's voice whispering on repeat: "I naturally look like the person it's easiest for you to talk to."

Harsh green eyes studied him warily but still - _still_ \- held no judgment of him. For Merlin's sake! He had spelled her over the third-floor railing! Confusion mixed poorly with the alcohol in his stomach creating a simmering ire that licked at the back of his mouth, tasting of bile. He opened his mouth to say something fairly uncouth when he noticed the girl's painted lips tip up on one side in an awkward smile. So the feral Hufflepuff was still a 'puff after all.

"Hey, it's fine! You're right. I should have looked where I was going," the cat costumed Hufflepuff said quickly, already backing away.  
Draco struggled to say something through his vexation. "I-no. um. I think there's napkins at the table..." pointing lamely to the snack table he was heading to before this mess. 

The girl raised an ebony brow, a question in her (beautiful, diamond-like, impossible) eyes before shrugging and walking to the table.

Draco followed, reevaluating his decision to drink anything Pansy gave him.

~ ζ ~

The napkins seemed to have run out by the time they got there. There were none left in the place he had seen them last (by the punch bowl which was also missing) and after exploring the length of the snack table, they had come back empty-handed. 

And standing around looking for a solution to napkins was quickly becoming tiresome and silly. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the girl (who was quickly becoming the bane of his existence) held her full glass in front of his face, asking - no ordering him to hold it.

The instant he had any grasp on the glass, she let it go and dropped to one knee. Taking the bottom of the table runner she then proceeded to use it to polish her heels. Scandalized, he almost dropped the glasses of water. Quickly depositing the glasses on the table, he dropped to a squat and hissed, "What are you doing?!"

"Cleaning your drink off my borrowed heels," was the flat response. Like it was obvious.

"Stop that!" he whispered back, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed them. No one had, yet. Though it seemed that some of

Pansy's "punch" may have gotten around if the slightly more wild crowd was anything to go by.

"Why? I don't have a napkin and I can't return stained shoes."

Draco whipped his attention back to the girl, eyes half-mad, "Why?! Because it's barbaric, that's why!" 

She shrugged and continued with her shoe shine, not getting any results fast. 

"For Merlin's Sake," slapping her hand away, Draco ignored the flash of danger in her eyes before grabbing the table runner himself. "If you're going to do this, at least do it bloody right."

And he set to polishing a practical stranger's shoes like a servant. He didn't even think twice.

~ ζ ~ 

By the time he had moved on to the next shoe, they were sitting side by side, under the table. The second heeled boot was dropped in his lap. In response to the dirty look shot her way, the Hufflepuff just smirked - unfazed and with a joking air of superiority. 

Rolling his eyes, Draco set on polishing the second shoe, thinking nothing of the ease that engulfed the two much like nights did by the lake.

That was before the girl started talking.

"You're not nearly as bad as people say."

Draco flinched. Both from the break in the relative quiet and from what the girl said. 

Keeping silent, grip tightening on her ankle, he continued working. He tried to keep his shoulders square when all they wanted to do was touch his ears. 

The girl seemed to realize this and stayed quiet until he released her ankle. It didn't help any. The damage had already been done.

She carefully extracted her foot his crossed legs, freeing him to leave. But as he scooted toward to edge of the table, he noticed she hadn't moved. 

"Going to enjoy the rest of the party here?" he asked, against his every instinct.

The Hufflepuff flashed him the awkward smile again before looking at her feet with furrowed brows. "I-I don't know if I can get up..."

Something must've shown on his face because she bit her lip and explained, "I'm no good in heels."

Oh.

He flashed her the most arrogant smile in his arsenal, "Then it's a good a thing I didn't leave."

That, amazingly, got a huff of laughter from the fortress of a girl. 

Holding his hand out to her, her amusement faded slightly, a wariness creeping in that gave him cause to pull his own hand back slightly. 

Seeming to come to some decision, she took his hand with determination set in the furrow between her ebony brows. 

He pulled her up, out from under the table, and briefly held her when she promptly toppled over. 

They quickly and awkwardly disentangled themselves, smothering giggles all the while.

Draco let slip the smallest of smiles as he grabbed one of the glasses on top of the table before his swift exit. 

Morgana, was he glad that was over.

(Then why did he feel like he's been scraped raw?) 

~ ζ ~

The rest of his night had gone smoothly enough that he might have almost forgotten his misadventure with the mystery Hufflepuff. (That was a lie. He was good at forgetting, but not that good.) 

Almost.

If it weren't for him croaking while asking Pansy to dance. Literally croaking. Like a fucking frog.

Of course Pansy was of no help, having practically laughed herself into a comatose state, so there was only one option left.

The Weasely twins.

This had their fingerprints all over it but, loathe as it was to say, he couldn't fix this on his own. So the twins it was.

He found them soon enough on the opposite side of the Great Hall giggling about something.

He coughed loudly to get their attention (and secretly - foolishly - hoped it would clear his throat of the croaking rasp).

The twins glanced at him, shared a look between themselves, and turned to him with identical grins; their distaste for him obvious. 

"And what may we lowly folk do for his highness?" one of the twins asked (he could never tell them apart), voice overflowing with sarcasm.

The other responded before Draco even opened his mouth. "Oh! Let me guess, you want to be top dog again, right? After the kick in the arse, Seph gave you, I wouldn't blame you."

"However," continued the other, not skipping a beat, "I'm afraid we don't render those services."

"-we'd be out of house and home if we did."

"-beggars in the street-"

"-not that you'd care, of course."

"Of course, he wouldn't, Gred. Don't be silly."

And on went, the conversation about him over his head, gossiping about him like he wasn't standing _right in front of them_. It was humiliating; he could hear some of the Gryffindors snickering around him. Feeling small compared to the twins towering over him, Draco burned in his place. 

Quickly shutting them out, the Malfoy heir smoothed away any semblance of emotion from his visage, the perfect student of stoicism. A tilt of his chin toward the sky gave the impression of a haughty mix: challenge and indifference playing across his features even though he felt neither.

Even though all he felt was a sickly concoction of shame and hatred.

He opened his mouth and croaked angrily.

The twins paused in their "conversation" looking at him and his probably blushing face, before breaking down in laughter. The other Gryffindorks quickly followed them with their own laughter. 

He wanted to run. Go back to the common room to read and wallow - the night thoroughly ruined.  
(wanted to throw himself into the lake and join his spirit friend in her eternal misery.)

Instead, he waited with manufactured patience until the laughter died down. 

"Haha! So that's what happened to our prank. I wonder how Perce did it?"

"Who cares? This is so much better than our plan."

"Still though. She should be here. It'll be a shame to miss her own prank."

The twin on the right rolled his eyes told his brother with a knowing smile, "Riiight..." He received a shove for that.

Draco just stood, watching and listening while confusion churned under his stoic mask. He didn't understand what - and who - they were talking about. That didn't mean he had to show it.

Instead, the noble Heir to Malfoy calmly took out his wand.

The crowd around them quickly quieted down, some shifting with unease - others jittering with anticipation, leaning forward and craning their necks.

Internally Draco rolled his eyes. And they call him melodramatic; they make it far too easy! Still, a part of him sang with his achievement - seeming to have flipped the tide on the twins.

Simply thinking of a spell, his wand lit up - stormy grey sparks dripping off the tip. Without wasting any time, Draco looped his wand through the air - ignoring the massive flinch that rippled through the crowd. The grey sparks collected in the air, shaping into flickering, floating letters written in clean cursive.

" **FIX THIS** ," they said; the words just as imperious as if he had spoken them, and the crowd broke into murmurs. The twins shared another glance, different this time, unreadable and Draco felt his heart squeeze from something just as unknown.

"How about no," the twin on the right announced boldly, poorly concealing the hint of wariness that shivered in his voice. That didn't seem to matter to the crowd of House Headstrong. In it a few smirks appeared, slowly undoing the nervous energy his little stunt had produced. It too, mattered little to Draco. They had reached the end of his very much finite patience. So with all the will he could muster he calmly croaked out, "Fuck you," thinking no one could possibly understand him.

"There's no need for that kind of language," came the stern voice from behind the crowd. For a second, he had thought it a teacher before the timbre registered. Registered as something shockingly, terribly, horrifyingly familiar. 

Green eyes were the first things he noticed. 

_shite._


	10. All Hallow's Eve - Conclude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco finds out who pranked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so we're gonna start really leaving the realm of canon in this chapter (if we were ever in it in the first place lol). There's a few headcanons that I'd like to add here since I think they fit with the story and the overall themes here. I hope you guys enjoy and if you'd like more spoilery info checkout the bottom notes. 
> 
> Italics at the beginning are from the previous part as usual.

_"There's no need for that kind of language," came the stern voice from behind the crowd. For a second, he had thought it a teacher before the timbre registered. Registered as something shockingly, terribly, horrifyingly familiar._

_Green eyes were the first things he noticed._

_shite_.

It was that Circe-damned Hufflepuff witch again. Where had his night gone so horribly wrong? Humiliation and a hint of oh-so-familiar betrayal popped his over-swelled heart, shriveling it like a parchment set ablaze, releasing the floodgates of his tightly leashed thoughts. Draco's mind whirled as he examined and re-examined the night's events, their moments under the table, them tripping over one another, him leaving...

The cup.

He'd taken one of two identical cups.

It would have been easy to put whatever gave him this croak into one of the glasses and nudge it towards him while the girl was flailing around in her heels. The whole thing was a setup. He'd been targeted, lured into a false sense of security, and while he was distracted, he'd taken their poison of his own free will.

He'd been thirsty all night. Ever since he'd walked in and been accosted by...

Granger.

Had the trio been in on this? or just a convenient distraction?

The plan was so well conceived, so well thought out that it put everything he'd previously assumed about the girl into question.

What about her little speech to Potter and his cronies? Had she known he was there, eavesdropping?

 _Now, for what possible reason would she do that?_ 'To get me to lower my guard,' Draco easily answered the voice that was always a little naive, a little too trusting. He'd thought after six years in Slytherin, the voice would be quashed. Apparently, he'd thought wrong.

He'd been wrong about a lot of things.

The Lady of the Lake was a liar. You don't just talk to strangers. Strangers are nothing but liabilities waiting to be sculpted into allies. The masterpieces of this labour are to be put on pedestals beside you and hailed as assets. All others are to be kept at arm's length or discarded entirely. There is no space for vulnerability unless it is to your advantage.

Especially don't trust, it seems, strangers with green eyes.

Green eyes that widened at the sight of him.

'Oh don't act so surprised to see me, like you didn't plan the whole thing.'

(Really if he were being honest, if it had been anyone else, he probably would have congratulated them. The whole thing was so quintessentially Slytherin - _wait, analyze, expose your target, then **strike**_ \- that he was in truth impressed. Were it anyone else in his shoes, he'd be lying comatose next to Pansy from the force of his own laughter.)

(Had it been anyone else, it wouldn't have hurt this deeply.)

She blushed, deeply and prettily and that just twisted the knife he wasn't aware was buried in his gut. Calling attention to itself, the wound ached horribly before being quickly translated into a roaring inferno of rage. Tendrils of fire licked at his lips, begging, pleading, threating to be released and spew forth hate and carnage on the masses.

 _ **No**_. Said the Malfoy in him; a voice made heavy by centuries of tradition to be upheld, with a legacy to protect, with a war to survive.

**_Malfoys never reveal their true emotions and this rage is all too real. What do you plan to say? Accuse her of? Betrayal? There is nothing to betray. This is her due justice, her sought-after revenge. You have no room to stand on this. You are allowed to not like it, to pout and feel humiliated, but not this rage._ **

Because Malfoys are never betrayed.

Because Malfoys never let anyone close enough to touch them, never mind sink a knife into them.

Because Strangers are Liabilities waiting - **FUCK BEING A MALFOY!**

And it was this loud, sudden thought that snapped him out of his own head because that was a dangerous thought in a dangerous time that needed to be gone _now_.

Quickly adding three more walls to his already numerous defenses, Draco hastily grabbed the thought and wrestled it into a black chest where it thumped against the lid like a wild, _live_   thing, determined to be heard. He fumbled the locks, the floor rolling beneath him as everything trembled and rattled like it was made of glass rather than iron and stone. He locked one, two, thr- shite, and dropped the lock into the abyss. He was a second away from just shoving the bloody thing right with the lock just so that it would be out out out! He couldn't focus, panic curling around him like the tide before the impending crash of a wave and the twins were smiling at the girl and she looked - at him.

The world was still turning outside the crumbling walls of his mind and she'd pulled her gaze away from the twins to look at him and he - without thinking - latched onto the calm he found there and with a blink was swept out to sea. Chest and locks forgotten, he tried not to drown in the cool sensation, the undercurrents playfully tugging at his heels. If he didn't know there was something distinctly _wrong_ about everything, he'd happily let the tide take him. Head above water, he saw the storm he'd escaped from bruising the horizon. In a blink, he was standing on the shore, the storm nothing but a dot far out of reach and out of mind. Turning on his heel, he saw one of the twins dropping an arm around the Hufflepuff's shoulders in slow-motion before time corrected itself and reality snapped back into place like a muggle rubber band did.

"This is awesome Seph. How did you manage to get the Prince of Slytherin away from his subjects?"

Draco's stomach dropped at the confirmation that the plan was hers but it was a strange, distant feeling.

"I-I didn't!"

"Aww, no need to be modest."

"You've done the impossible!"

"That needs to be celebrated!"

The lions around them roared in agreement but all Draco heard was the soft lapping to waves. His eyes were entirely fixed on the Hufflepuff witch taking every move, every breath, and pouring over them as if they were evidence of a murder. He didn't know how he felt as the Lions welcomed the badger with the sharpest talons of all of them into their pride. Didn't know if he felt anything at all. He felt cold.

"No! Stop it! All of you! I didn't prank him so stop it! Gods above it was a mistake!" She sounded desperate, voice teetering on shrill. He didn't believe her. (The results of his study, his investigation were not yet available. More information was required.) The rest of the lions seemed inclined to agree with him for once, still cheering and going mad over what amounted to a prank. Pathetic. That is until the sharp-taloned badger decided the Pride was far too prideful to listen to words and used her fist instead. One of the twins quickly collapsed to his knees clutching his gut and groaning out a raspy, "Why?"

"Because you wouldn't listen to me before," she stated dully as if she was the one who'd had her insides scooped out, leaving her hollow. The other twin quickly let go of the girl's shoulders and she turned to face them both. "So hear me now," she continued, raising her voice to address the crowd without looking away from the bewildered pair of redheads, "I. Did not. Prank Draco Malfoy. It was an honest mistake." She paused before spinning on the balls of her feet to face him. She gave him a weak, almost pleading smile before saying strongly, "One I am really sorry about."

Draco said nothing, felt nothing, like a proper Malfoy should. He only turned on his heels, cloak fanning out gracefully around him and strode towards the exit, chin up and face set in pale marble.

Behind him, he heard the girl shouting at him to wait before she broke off into swearing. He silently slipped between the half-closed doors into the dark halls beyond.

~ ζ ~

Draco had thought that the end of the whole fiasco and had spent the entire walk to the dungeons trying to convince himself not to see the lake spirit today. He didn't think he could talk to the girl again, no matter that it wasn't really her but a depressed immortal being... Mordred, where did his life go so _wrong_?

Besides contemplating that existential question, he had a lot to digest from today, a whole list really, starting with repairing his mental defenses after his mild panic attack (really meltdown was the better descriptor - had he not promised himself that if a Malfoy could never be honest with anyone, then Draco would be honest with himself?) and whatever the bloody hell the beach nonsense was about. But most importantly, he had to go over every scrap of information he had on the Hufflepuff (starting with her name, hadn't the twins mentioned a Seph?) and figure out how the hell he was so wrong about her?

At this point, it was a matter of personal and family pride. It had once been said that the Malfoys had a gift when it came to reading people. What no one knew was just how true that sentiment was. Mind Magics were deeply entwined with the family magic, to the point of becoming a skill of inborn aptitude. While most struggle for decades in the mastery of Legilimency and Occlumency, it's been recorded that many in the family had shown a natural inclination towards the subjects, most achieving mastery before they turned thirty. The level of control and precision of course varied by person but you will see no records in the Ministry of such mastery going back at least a few centuries.

(Draco, in his more rebellious moments, thought the gift had skipped a few generations but had yet been able to get his hands on Abraxas Malfoy's journals to prove it.)

It's been a tightly held family secret and Draco would be damned if it was him who finally revealed it to the magical world all the while putting the gift to shame with his atrocious misreading of the Hufflepuff.

Hell, Draco was even something of a prodigy within the family, having been born a natural Legilimens and retaining an almost empathic level of response to people even while he was shielding, thus using both magics simultaneously - an almost unheard of feat.

So, yes, he had a muted view of a person's emotions (more imprints than anything with his shield's suppression) and that was not always an accurate predictor of actions alone but it did reveal character, a deeper and more honest predictor of long-term trustworthiness.

And he had, on some level, considered the girl he'd only barely talked to as worthy of his trust - had on some level, _given_ her his trust. Only to be left with a bloody wound and shredded pride ( _Et tu_ bubbling on his tongue like acid).

He'd never been so wrong before.

In his haste to investigate the attempted murder of his pride (and maybe some small bit of his soul), someone had left the gates open and he'd wandered into her mind - he was sure of it. A tremor ran through his fingers and he clenched them into fists as waves of shame crashed through him. That he'd lost control enough to just wander into someone's mind - it was ridiculous. He hadn't done something like that since he was a child. (and it was freeing, an elation like stretching after being hunched over for too long, something new and refreshing and **NO!** the Malfoy in him roared.)

 ** _Enough! You're acting like it was Pansy or Goyle who pranked you. It was a nobody. A girl you have no business with - not when you have bigger things to worry about_**. And just like that, the evening was officially ruined as thoughts of the war waging outside the castle walls hardened his heart.

There will be time for autopsies of his psyche and investigations later, those were luxuries - distractions - he couldn't afford.

Besides no one gets the drop on a Malfoy.

"Draco! Draco wait!"

Except for green-eyed strangers of course.

He didn't stop walking, didn't change his pace, eyeing the upcoming corner.

"Would you just! Draco! Wait, you albino haired sonova- ack!"

Well, that was original at least. He quickly turned the corner and stalled there, leaning against the stone wall and trying to strangle his wild curiosity and guilt into submission. He took a peek around the corner and saw the Hufflepuff was caught in the trick step, wobbling dangerously in her heels. Biting his lip he weighed going back to his dorm against helping the girl. On the one hand, he might actually be able to get a decent amount of sleep instead of the three hours he'd been running on for the past month. On the other, the girl seemed pretty relentless and was sure to try to break into the Slytherin dorms if she didn't have the talk she'd run after him for. If he was slightly fearful that she'd succeed, well he doubted anyone could blame him; the girl was terrifying.

Glancing back at her, sitting now on the step, one shoe in hand, looking miserable, he only made it halfway down the hall before guilt choked him again.

Morgana save him, he turned back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I don't know how obvious it is but I've been playing fast and loose with canon and as of this chapter it's gonna start veering a bit more into my own ideas and some headcanons I've run into while reading other fics that I like. I'll give credit where credit is due though. So for this chapter I got the Draco as a natural Legilimens idea from Foxfire by setissma on AO3. The idea of it being a family thing is mine as far as I know though. It's a great story and I'd recommend it but it's very different and has little to do with this fic. Give it a read if you like triad fics!
> 
> I also just want to thank all of you for reading this fic, you guys don't know how much it means to me. Comments are always wonderful and Thank you for all the kudos!  
> Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it! This was first published in 2015 so yeah, I think I've come along way and it's fun looking back while reposting stuff. I'll start posting newer stuff soon. I'm also in the process of rewriting an older mutli-chapter story so I'll be posting that too. I'd like to say a big thank you to all of you who have read the works I've posted here so far and an extra million thank you's to everyone who kudos or took the time to comment. It really gave my the courage to keep posting here and I'm really excited to start posting newer stuff here too.  
> So comments and kudos are warmly welcomed and I hope you stay tuned for more to come!


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